Woman, 82, hurt protecting GG Park goose

Share this:

A young boy spending a cool, cloudy morning in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, either frolicking among the geese at Stow Lake or harassing them.

An elderly woman taking her small terrier on their daily walk, who either did nothing more than scold the boy or grabbed him by the neck.

The boy’s father, who either knocked the woman over accidentally or shoved her to the ground.

Police haven’t found any independent witnesses who saw what happened Friday. All they know for sure is that the 82-year-old woman is in the hospital with a life-threatening head wound, and they would like to get the father’s side of the story.

The woman told officers that she spotted the boy annoying the geese at about 11 a.m., said Officer Gordon Shyy, a police spokesman. When she tried to stop him, she said, the father appeared, took exception to her scolding of the boy and pushed her to the ground, where she struck her head.

The woman suffered abrasions on her arms and was bleeding. The man helped her to her car, and she drove home with her husband, who had been walking elsewhere in the park, police said.

Later in the day she began feeling ill, Shyy said, and went to St. Mary’s Medical Center. She was admitted with what police described as life-threatening injuries and remained in the intensive care unit Monday.

The woman gave a statement to police at the hospital and her condition is improving, Shyy said. He would not release her name.

John Steele, an employee at the Stow Lake boathouse, said he had helped the woman after someone came running up to report that she was hurt. He said he had found the woman sitting on the ground, a bloodstain growing on the back of her head.

The father, whom Steele described as agitated and concerned, said the woman had grabbed his son’s neck to stop him from playing with the geese. When he tried to get her away from the boy, she fell and hit her head, he told Steele.

The boy, who appeared to be about 5 years old, was quiet as the woman was being helped, Steele said.

“It kind of puzzles me about what really happened,” he said. “Nobody really saw it. I don’t think there were any other witnesses but the guy, his kid and the lady.”

Police are looking for the boy’s father, Shyy said. He was described only as being in his 40s.

Investigators ask that anyone who may have seen what happened or have information to call an anonymous tip line at (415) 668-7387 or text a tip to TIP411.